After two back to back duds like My Friend Pinto and Ekk Deewana Tha we doubt the unconventional looking young actor can carry a film on his sinewy shoulders

The debacle of Prateik’s Ekk Deewana Tha seems to be giving the producer of his next film Ishak stressful days and sleepless nights. Producer Shailesh Shah has been contemplating scrapping the romantic drama despite having wrapped up the first shooting schedule. We hear that he feels he might face difficulty getting buyers so it’s better to shelve the film right now than incur more losses later. Whether or not the maker gives up on his ambitious project that is supposed to be inspired by Romeo and Juliet remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the young actor’s attempts to be accepted as a mainstream Bollywood hero isn’t going down well with the audience. Ekk Deewana Tha is just the most recent case in point. His earlier film as solo hero was the musical My Friend Pinto and that too bombed at the box office.

Instead every time he stepped in to the shoes of an unconventional character, he proved that he is as good an actor as his mother Smita Patil. Take his portrayal of the eccentric brother in Imran Khan-Genelia D’Souza starrer Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa or the gullible washer boy in Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat or the young Goan with American dreams in Rohan Sipppy’s Dum Maaro Dum. Maybe with the right director to channel his talent, he can shine as a solo hero too, but wethink he needs much more seasoning before that happens. What do you think?